The  >n  of  the   fourteenth 

anniversary  of  the  American 
Institute. 


S 
523 

C55 


OEATION 


OURTEENTH  ANNIVERSARY 


AMERICAN    INSTITUTE, 


on:\          ;RTf 


LOW  A1 


OCTOBER,    1S41 


NEW-YORK : 

FED  BY  J 

•• 


THE 


ORATION 


FOURTEENTH  ANNIVERSARY 


AMERICAN    INSTITUTE. 


DELIVERED    BY 


JOHN   OVERTON   CHOULES, 


BROADWAY    TABERNACLE, 


OCTOBER,    1S41. 


NEW-YORK: 

PRINTED  BY  J.  VAN  NORDEN  &  CO., 
No,  27  FINE-STREET. 

1842. 


UCSB    ' 


NIBLO'S  GARDEN, 

New-York,  Oct.  V2d,  1841. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  Managers  of  the  Fourteenth  Annual  Pair  of  "  the  American  Institute  of 
the  City  of  New-York"  gratefully  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  you  for  the 
timely  relief  afforded  by  your  prompt  acceptance  of  their  invitation  to  deliver  the 
Anniversary  Address  last  evening — which  invitation  was  delayed  by  the  interven- 
tion of  unexpected  circumstances,  and  did  not  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Managers  until  within  a  few  hours  of  the  time  which  had  been  announced  for  this 
part  of  the  celebration. 

The  important  facts  contained  in  your  Address,  and  their  bearings  on  the 
vital  interests  of  Agriculture  and  productive  industry  generally,  and  the  patriotic 
sentiments  it  is  calculated  to  inspire  if  extensively  read,  are  the  reasons  for  soliciting 
from  you  the  further  favour  of  a  copy  for  publication. 

On  behalf  of  the  Managers, 

T.  B.  WAKEMAN, 

Chairman  of  Pub.  Committee. 
The  REV.  J.  O.  CHOULES. 


T.  B.  WAKEMAN,  Esa.,  Chairman  of  the  Publishing  Committee 

of  the  lith  Annual  Fair  of  the  American  Institute: 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  kind  favour,  requesting  a  copy  of  the 
Anniversary  Address  for  publication. 

You  are  perfectly  aware  that  it  was  not  prepared  for  such  an  important 
occasion,  or  such  an  immense  assembly  as  that  to  which  I  was  summoned  at 
two  hours'  notice,  through  the  unavoidable  absence  of  the  learned  and  honourable 
gentleman  who  was  to  have  gratified  and  instructed  the  friends  of  Commerce, 
Agriculture  and  Manufactures. 

The  subject  which  I  selected  is  one,  too,  little  appreciated  by  the  inhabitants 
'of  cities  and  towns,  and  I  think  far  too  seldom  brought  before  their  attention ; 
and  yet  it  is  full  of  interest,  and  admits  of  popular  discussion.  The  kind 
reception  which  the  address  met  with  on  its  delivery,  and  the  frequent  applications 
I  have  had  to  repeat  it  in  other  places,  induce  me  to  comply  with  your  request, 
although  I  am  quite  aware  that  the  Oration  is  better  calculated  for  the  audience 
than  the  press. 

With  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  the  Institute  and  respect  for  the 
Managers, 

I  am,  very  faithfully  yours, 

JNO.  O.  CHOULES. 


ORATION. 


s 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  ASIERICAN  INSTITUTE  : 

"  OUR  COUNTRY,"  is  a  phrase  of  wide  and  endearing  import. 
Poetry  has  sung  its  charms,  patriotism  has  felt  them,  and  piety 
has  consecrated  them.  And  what  a  country,  fellow  citizens, 
does  God  permit  us  to  call  our  own  !  There  is  our  long  At- 
lantic coast,  with  more  than  two  thousand  one  hundred  miles 
of  seaboard,  skirting  states  containing  more  than  one  million  of 
square  miles.  There,  too,  is  our  imperium  in  imperio,  the  Valley 
of  the  West,  lying  between  the  Lakes  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
the  Alleganies  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  containing  two  mil- 
lions of  square  miles,  one  hundred  thousand  miles  of  internal 
ship  and  steam-boat  navigation,  four  thousand  miles  of  rail-road, 
two  thousand  miles  of  lake,  and  one  thousand  of  gulf.  All  this 
extent  embraces  the  best  variations  of  climate  upon  the  globe, 
comprehending  exactly  those  degrees  which  have  been  ever 
marked  by  the  genius  and  enterprise  of  man. 

Our  land  is  a  mart  for  the  nations,  a  workshop  for  the  earth ; 
every  ocean  is  white  with  our  canvass,  and  we  have  learned  to 
press  into  our  service  steam  as  it  rises,  water  as  it  flows,  air  as 
it  flies.  We  have  almost  the  only  Constitution  that  deserves 
the  name — freedom  for  every  citizen,  liberty  breathing  full  and 
free  through  all  our  institutions — thus  cherishing  a  spirit  of  enter- 
prise, a  security  that  holds  out  a  protecting  bounty  to  each  in- 
dividual, rendering  every  citizen  assured  of  the  full  enjoyment 
of  all  lawful  acquisition  ;  and  in  addition  to  this,  the  law  does  all 
that  for  every  man's  religion  which  true  religion  asks,  wishes  or 
wants,  and  that  is, — lets  it  alone. 


6 

With  a  lamentable  exception  of  three  millions,  our  people 
are  free,  and  are  characterized  by  strength,  ingenuity  and  pa- 
tience ;  they  present,  in  body  and  mind,  the  noblest  materials  for 
the  formation  of  national  greatness. 

I  believe  you  are  all  disposed,  after  this  brief  survey,  to  ex- 
claim with  me  of  the  Giver  of  every  good  gift,  who  hath  thus 
ordered  the  bounds  of  our  habitation — "  He  hath  not  dealt  so 
with  any  other  people." 

How  little  did  Columbus  understand  of  the  true  nature  and 
bearing  of  his  mission,  when,  with  a  heart  big  with  mighty  pro- 
jects, he  walked  in  silence  on  the  shores  of  Andalusia,  and 
watched  the  star  of  evening  down  the  western  sky !  Little  did 
he  dream  that  he  was  about  to  open  another  Paradise  to  thou- 
sands driven  from  their  homes,  not  by  the  wrath  of  their  Maker, 
but  the  rage  of  their  brethren  ;  that  he  was  the  instrument  in 
the  hands  of  God  to  throw  open  an  asylum  to  which  the  feet  of 
the  oppressed  would  direct  their  course  from  all  lands  for  pro- 
tection, and  to  which  the  imploring  eye  of  misery  would  be 
turned,  from  almost  every  scene  of  human  wretchedness.  And 
now,  after  almost  four  centuries  have  passed  away,  what  do  we 
see  ?  Nation  upon  nation,  long  reposing  in  the  lap  of  its 
rulers,  is  starting  up  to  action,  and  animated  and  incited  to 
hope  by  our  blessedness,  is  making  its  way  for  this  lighthouse 
of  the  world.*  An  attraction  in  the  material  world  is  ever 
withdrawing  particles  of  matter  from  whatever  is  old,  and  com- 
bining them  in  newer  and  more  beautiful  forms ;  so  a  moral  in- 
fluence is  withdrawing  subjects  from  the  old  and  worn-out 
governments  of  Europe,  and  hurrying  them  across  the  Atlantic, 
to  participate  in  the  renovated  youth  of  our  western  republic. 
It  is  an  influence  which,  like  that  of  nature,  is  universal,  with- 
out pause  or  relaxation,  and  hordes  of  emigrants  are  continu- 
ally swarming  off,  as  ceaseless  in  their  passage,  and  as  crowded 
and  as  unreturning,  as  the  travellers  to  eternity.  Even  those 
who  are  forced  to  remain  feel  a  melancholy  restlessness,  like  a 
bird  of  passage  whose  wing  was  broken  at  the  season  of  emi- 
gration, and  they  look  at  America  as  the  land  of  the  dear  de- 

•  Douglass. 


parted,  where  every  one  has  some  near  relative  or  dear  friend 
gone  before  him.  In  all  Europe  a  voice,  like  that  heard  before 
the  final  ruin  of  Jerusalem,  seems  to  whisper  to  such  as  have 
ears  to  hear,  "Arise,  let  us  depart  hence." 

But  why  does  the  public  teacher  of  Christianity  appear  upon 
such  an  occasion  ;  does  he  not  transcend  his  appropriate  duty 
when  he  talks  of  the  details  of  earthly  actions  ? 

I  feel  myself  entirely  in  the  discharge  of  appropriate  duty 
when  I  advocate  the  ordination  of  Jehovah,  and  speak  of  the 
most  ancient,  honourable  and  satisfying  employments  that  ever 
occupied  the  intelligent  creation. 

I  cannot  but  regard  agricultural  improvement  as  closely  con- 
nected with  a  prosperous  state  of  morality  and  religion ;  for  the 
inculcations  of  Christianity,  neatness,  order,  and  consequently 
taste,  find  their  natural  sphere  in  rural  pursuits.  The  habits  of 
life,  and  the  sentiments  which  accord  with  husbandry,  are  highly 
congenial  to  the  genuine  spirit  of  religion ;  and  a  well  conducted 
farm  should  be  the  home  of  devotion,  tranquillity  and  peace. 

I  greatly  fear  that  the  moral  influences  flowing  from  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  rural  sciences  are  inadequately  appreciated  by 
too  many.  Every  minister  of  religion  should  aim  to  call  out 
and  encourage  the  observation  and  curiosity  of  the  young  ;  he 
should  train  them  up  around  him  as  querists  ;  he  should  himself 
remember,  and  let  them  never  forget,  that  Newton,  by  observing 
the  fall  of  an  apple,  was  led  on  to  the  discovery  of  the  sublime 
principles  of  the  material  world.  O,  how  much  can  be  done 
for  happiness  and  comfort  in  a  country  parish  by  a  well  edu- 
cated minister  !  what  transformations  he  may  effect — what  im- 
provements he  may  suggest — what  trains  of  future  action  he 
may  set  off,  by  a  hint,  a  request,  or  an  example. 

Who  that  has  passed  through  the  town  of  Worcester,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, has  not  admired  the  taste  and  beauty  of  its  well 
planted  trees  and  shaded  avenues  ?  All  this,  I  believe,  was  de- 
viSed  and  commenced  by  a  young  minister,  who,  without  any 
resources  but  of  taste  and  genius,  applied  himself  and  a  few 
kindred  spirits  to  the  work  of  moulding  the  taste  and  habits  of 
the  community.  He  was  one  of  four  ministers  wrho  formed  the 
Worcester  County  Agricultural  Society,  and  in  that  county 


8 

many  of  the  ministers  have  been  successful  farmers,  and  they 
have  received  as  many  premiums  as  any  other  class  of  men. 
And  while  I  speak  of  Massachusetts,  and  refer  to  the  clergy,  I 
am  sure  you  are  all  of  you  reminded  of  the  indebtedness  of 
every  man  who  cultivates  the  American  soil  to  that  able  farmer, 
that  distinguished  philanthropist  and  eloquent  teacher,  the  Rev. 
Henry  Coleman,  late  Agricultural  Commissioner  for  the  Com- 
monwealth. When  I  read  his  reports  and  letters  to  the  yeo- 
manry of  New-England,  I  wish  that  his  voice  could  be  heard  in 
every  farm  of  our  State  and  Union.* 

Mitchell,  in  his  agricultural  tour  through  Holland,  states,  that 
each  Divinity  student,  before  being  licensed,  has  to  attend  two 
years  lectures  upon  agriculture.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  use- 
fulness of  the  clergy  is  much  augmented  by  this  step,  and  that 
their  future  influence  over  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  country 
is  greatly  increased. 

When  I  think  of  the  state  of  society  in  our  country,  I  wish 
that  many,  very  many,  of  the  Lord's  prophets  were  themselves 
husbandmen,  or  at  least  fond  of  rural  pursuits,  and  distinguished 
by  their  attachment  and  devotion  to  nature  ;  for  what  beautiful 
teachings  there  are  in  that  volume  which  the  Almighty  has 
spread  open  to  us  ;  and  to  some  thoughtless  minds  the  lessons  of 
the  open  field  are  far  more  impressive  than  our  discourses  of 
the  music  and  harmonies  of  heaven.  Go  out  into  nature,  all  is 
visible,  all  is  tangible.  I  can  take  a  leaf,  a  plant,  an  insect,  and 
from  either  I  can  make  appeals  that  the  sophist's  art,  the  skeptic's 
hatred,  can  neither  mystify  nor  evade.  I  can  bring  up  from 
nature,  evidences  in  favour  of  my  faith  in  God,  that  only  "  a  fool" 
can  deny.  And  then  nature  speaks  one  universal  language, 
and  establishes  the  same  facts  to  all  classes  and  orders  of  minds. 
Her  unity  is  wondrous,  and  no  inquisitive  eye  roams  far  for  a 
curious  object.  No  student  complains  that  nature's  lessons 
are  few,  or  her  colours  faint.  "  Her  lines  are  gone  out  into  all 
the  earth,  and  there  is  no  speech  nor  language  where  her  voile 


*  Since  this  address  was  delivered,  Mr.  Coleman  has  taken  charge  of  the  New 
Genesee  Farmer,  and  will,  I  doubt  not,  render  that  excellent  paper  more  valuable 
and  useful  than  ever. 


is  not  heard."  I  long  for  the  day  when  men  shall  be  told  more 
of  the  material  revelation  God  has  made,  which  admits  no  change. 
No  Vandal  hordes  can  ever  blot  out  its  inscriptions,  or  burn  its 
library.  Nature's  alphabet  is  made  up  of  only  four  letters, 
wood,  water,  rock  and  soil ;  and  yet  with  these  four  letters  she 
forms  such  wondrous  compositions,  such  infinite  combina- 
tions, as  no  language  with  twenty-four  letters  can  describe.- 
Nature  never  grows  old,  she  speaks  now  as  ever ;  she  has  no 
provincialisms.  The  lark  carols  the  same  song,  in  the  same  key, 
as  when  Adam  turned  his  delighted  ear  to  catch  the  strain  ;  the 
owl  still  hoots  in  b  flat,  yet  loves  the  note,  and  screams  through 
no  other  octave  ;*  the  stormy  petrel  as  much  delighted  to  sport 
among  the  first  waves  the  Indian  Ocean  ever  raised,  as  it  does 
now.  Birds  that  lived  on  flies,  laid  bluish  eggs,  when  Isaac  went 
out  into  the  fields  to  meditate  at  eventide,  as  they  will  two  thou- 
sand years  hence,  if  the  wrorld  does  not  break  her  harness  from 
the  orb  of  day.  The  sun  is  as  bright  as  when  Lot  entered  the 
little  city  of  Zoar.  The  diamond,  and  the  onyx,  and  the  topaz 
of  Ethiopia,  are  still  as  splendid,  and  the  vulture's  eye  as  fierce, 
as  when  Job  took  up  his  parable.  In  short,  nature's  pendulum 
has  never  altered  its  strokes. 

I  might  magnify  your  estimate  of  the  value  and  importance 
of  agriculture,  by  carrying  you  back  to  the  primeval  scenes  of 
the  world's  history  ;  but  who  does  not  remember,  that  when  all 
things  were  pronounced  to  be  very  good,  it  was  amid  scenery, 
of  which  the  grouping  was  made  up  of  a  God,  a  garden,  and 
its  cultivator,  man.  The  soil  whence  Adam  sprang  was  the 
granary  whence  he  was  to  be  sustained,  and  it  afforded  him  at 
last  his  grave  and  resting  place. 

I  might  occupy  your  time  in  alluding  to  Patriarchal  agricul- 
tural labours,  when  the  world's  forefathers  worshipped  God  in 
all  the  simplicity  of  nature,  tending  their  flocks  by  day,  and  re- 
posing at  night  in  calm  serenity  beneath  the  spreading  sky, 
peace  their  pillow,  and  piety  their  guardian  angel.  I  might 
speak  to  you  of  Israel's  monarch,  who  planted  him  vineyards, 
and  made  him  gardens  and  orchards,  and  planted  in  them  trees 

*  Bayley  on  Nature. 
2 


10 

of  all  kinds  of  fruit,  and  who  had  possessions  of  great  and  small 
cattle,  above  all  that  were  in  Jerusalem  before  him,  and  who 
spake  of  trees  from  the  cedar  that  is  in  Lebanon,  even  unto  the 
hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall.  And  Uzziah  and  other 
kings,  while  good  and  virtuous,  had  cattle  in  the  plains  and  low 
country,  and  husbandmen  and  vine  dressers  in  the  mountains 
and  in  Carmel,  and  who  loved  husbandry.  It  is  not  needful,  to 
make  you  see  the  dignity  of  agricultural  labour,  that  I  carry 
you  back  to  Babylon,  Persia  or  Rome,  for  you  all  know  that 
wherever  liberty,  the  arts  and  sciences  have  flourished,  there 
has  the  patriot  encouraged,  the  statesman  protected,  and  the 
poet  praised  the  art  of  husbandry.  How  delightful  are  the 
glimpses  which  we  obtain  of  rural  life  in  the  literature  of 
Greece  and  Rome  !  Laertes  pruning  his  vines,  Eumenes  enter- 
taining his  king,  and  Hesiod  himself  leading  us  to  the  very 
cradle  and  infancy  of  agriculture. 

"  Forget  not,  when  you  sow  the  grain,  to  mind 
"  That  a  boy  follows  with  a  rake  behind, 
"  And  strictly  charge  him,  as  you  drive,  with  care 
"  The  seed  to  cover  and  the  birds  to  scare." 

Every  schoolboy  knows  the  agricultural  glory  of  old  Rome, 
and  thinks  of  Varro,  Cincinnatus,  Cato,  Virgil,  Horace  and 
Cicero,  in  connection  with  the  cultivation  of  their  mother  earth. 
The  history  of  agricultural  improvement  is  almost  the  history 
of  the  world,  and  comes  not  within  my  province  ;  but  it  is  grati- 
fying that  we  can  trace  its  most  rapid  developements  in  the 
land  which  contains  the  tombs  of  our  ancestors,  and  was  the 
birthplace  of  our  language,  laws  and  religion.  It  was  only  at 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  that  agriculture  began  to  be 
regarded  and  pursued  as  a  science.  Fitzherbert,  a  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  wrote  the  earliest  piece  upon  farming,* 

*  "  The  Bookof  Husbandry,  very  Profitable  and  Necessary  for  all  Persons."  He 
also  wrote  several  other  pieces.  The  Judge  applied  himself  as  vigorously  to  hus- 
bandry in  the  country  as  to  the  study  of  the  law  in  the  town.  We  have  a  similar 
instance  at  the  present  time  in  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  whose  thorough  acquaint- 
ance with  practical  farming  is  exemplified  in  the  very  ablest  agricultural  address  I 
have  ever  read.  It  was  delivered  in  Boston  soon  after  his  return  from  Europe.  It 
is  the  fullest  and  most  condensed  article  on  husbandry  that  we  have  access  to,  and 
Bhould  b«  reprinted  by  the  American  Institute  for  general  distribution. 


11 

about  one  hundred  years  before  the  establishment  of  Plymouth 
Colony  or  New-Amsterdam.  It  was  published  in  1534.  The 
work  imparted  much  interest  to  the  pursuit  of  husbandry.  Tus- 
ser's  Five  Hundred  Points  of  Husbandry  appeared  thirty  years 
after ;  then  came  Barnaby  Goage's  "  Whole  Art  and  Trade  of 
Husbandry."  Sir  Hugh  Platt  turned  his  mind  to  the  proper 
food  of  the  soil,  and  wrote  "  The  Jewel  Houses."  His  remarks 
upon  manures  are  sensible,  and  still  in  repute.  Samuel  Hartlip 
wrote  an  admirable  treatise,  for  which  he  was  rewarded  by 
that  true-hearted  patriot  and  far  discerning  statesman,  Oliver 
Cromwell,  who  bestowed  upon  him  a  pension.  Hartlip  has  the 
merit  of  having  been  the  first  who  recommended  a  public  di- 
rector of  husbandry  to  be  established  by  law.  Evelyn  and 
Tull  are  names  dear  to  the  well-read  and  scientific  cultivator  of 
the  soil ;  and  I  join  with  one  who  has  gone  before  me  in  this 
duty,  in  declaring  that  Jethro  Tull  is  more  deserving  of  a  monu- 
ment than  the  Duke  of  Marlboro'.* 

The  time  would  fail  me  to  run  over  all  the  names  that  have 
helped  to-.make  England,  if  not  a  garden,  yet  a  prodigy  of  agri- 
cultural wealth,  and  that  little  island  the  wonder  of  the  world. 

Anderson  and  Hunter,  Marshall  and  Home,  Young  and  Dick- 
son,  Sinclair  and  Davy,  Loudon  and  Knight,  Bedford  and  Spen- 
cer, Coke  and  Shaw,  are  the  true  friends  of  man,  and  their 
fame  is  yet  to  grow  brighter  and  run  in  larger  circles. 

The  glorious  era  from  which  all  the  triumphs  of  husbandry 
now  date,  is  1793,  when,  under  the  auspices  of  Sinclair  and 
Pitt,  the  British  Legislature  incorporated  the  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture ;  then  surveys  were  made  of  every  county,  the  resources 
of  the  empire  developed  and  proclaimed.  It  is  from  this 
period  that  we  may  regard  agriculture  as  a  science.  The 
essays  published  on  turning  grass  land  into  arable,  and  the 


*  How  much  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  there  is  no  library  in  our  country  where 
even  a  tolerable  collection  of  the  old  agricultural  authors  can  be  found  for  purposes 
of  reference.  It  is  matter  of  doubt  whether  a  rich  man  could  do  the  American  Institute 
as  much  real  good  in  any  other  way  as  by  presenting  it  with  the  means  of  collecting  in 
England  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  old  authors  upon  husbandry  and  gardening. 
One  hundred  dollars  would  procure  all  the  above  named  authors,  and  several  other* 
who  were  coternporary  with  them. 


12 

culture  of  the  potato,  exhibited  the  ablest  talent  of  Great 
Britain,  and  have  furnished,  I  believe,  some  of  the  most 
valuable  volumes  ever  written.  The  patronage  of  the  govern- 
ment gave  interest  to  the  subject,  and  the  proudest  peers  of 
England  placed  their  sons  with  practical  farmers  for  the  ac- 
quirement of  the  details  of  husbandry. 

A  member  of  the  late  cabinet  devoted  three  years  to  all  the 
labours  of  a  farm.  Now,  too,  chemistry  was  brought  forward 
to  the  aid  of  agriculture,  and  has  been  one  of  its  firmest  pillars. 
In  short,  we  may  regard  this  organization  of  the  agricultural 
society  as  the  origin  of  the  systematic  rotation  of  crops,  the  im- 
provement in  breeds  of  cattle,  use  of  plaster,  the  soiling  of 
cattle,  culture  of  root  crops,  and  artificial  grasses.  Comparisons 
led  to  the  establishment  of  facts,  and  agriculture  may  now  be 
regarded  as  an  art  resting  upon  facts. 

In  almost  every  portion  of  Great  Britain  these  societies 
sprang  up,  and  the  farmers  had  the  courage  and  wisdom  to 
profit  by  the  improvements  which  skill  and  science  had  intro- 
duced, and  the  result  is,  that  five  millions  of  all  ages  produce 
annually  from  her  soil  seven  hundred  millions  worth  of  agri- 
cultural produce.  In  1760  the  growth  of  all  grain  in  England 
and  Wales  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  bushels,  in 
Scotland  thirty  millions,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
millions.  In  1840  the  produce  was  four  hundred  and  ten  mil- 
lions of  bushels.  Think  of  seven  hundred  millions  worth  of 
produce  from  that  little  island,  and  remember,  that  competent 
judges  tell  us  this  may  still  be  doubled  !  Agriculture  has  clothed 
the  most  barren  heaths  with  luxuriant  crops,  converted  pools 
and  marshes  into  fruitful  meadows,  and  clothed  the  bleakest 
mountains  with  groves  of  forest  trees. 

Agriculture  has  been  termed  by  Sully,  the  breast  from 
whence  the  state  receives  support  and  nourishment.  It  is  the 
primary  source  of  wealth  and  independence ;  and  when  the 
soil  of  a  country  is  in  such  a  state  naturally  or  artificially,  as, 
under  judicious  management,  to  furnish  maintenance  for  more 
persons  than  are  required  for  its  culture,  thence  proceeds  the 
profits  of  the  farmer,  the  rents  of  the  landlord,  the  subsistence  of 
the  manufacturer  and  merchant,  and  the  greater  proportion  of 


13 

the  income  of  the  state.  That  surplus  marketable  produce  is 
justly  considered  to  be  the  principal  source  of  all  political  power 
and  personal  enjoyment;  when  that  surplus  does  not  exist  there 
can  be  no  flourishing  towns,  no  naval  force,  none  of  the  supe- 
rior arts  or  finer  manufactures,  no  learning,  none  of  the  conve- 
niences and  luxuries  of  foreign  lands,  and  none  of  that  cultivated 
and  polished  society  at  home,  which  not  only  elevates  and  dig- 
nifies the  individual,  but  extends  its  beneficial  influence  through- 
out society.  What  exertions,  then,  ought  to  be  made,  and  encour- 
agement to  be  given,  to  preserve  and  to  improve  so  essential  a 
resource,  this  foundation  of  national  prosperity.  Agriculture 
does  more  than  feed,  it  clothes  us  :  without  it  we  should  have  no 
manufactures,  no  commerce.  These  all  stand  together  like  pil- 
lars in  a  cluster,  the  largest  in  the  centre,  and  that  largest  is 
Agriculture. 

Let  us  look  at  our  own  state — the  empire  state.  Her  terri- 
torial extent  is  ten  thousand  square  miles  larger  than  England 
and  Wales.  In  1783  she  had  not  half  the  population  of  the  states 
of  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia  ;  now 
her  inhabitants  are  two  million  five  hundred  thousand.  Our 
Commonwealth  exhibits  physical  capabilities  of  wealth  and 
greatness  existing  to  an  unknown  extent,  and  is  fertile  in  most 
of  the  productions  which  minister  to  the  necessities  of  man.  I 
envy  not  the  individual  whose  heart  does  not  swell  when  he 
gazes  on  the  bold  and  magnificent  profusion  with  which  the  liv- 
ing God  has  scattered  the  proofs  of  his  eternal  Godhead,  and 
with  what  a  vast  and  awful  scale  of  grandeur  he  has  piled  up 
the  mountain  and  spread  out  the  valley,  planted  the  forest  and 
poured  forth  the  flood. 

The  western  portion  of  our  state  was,  forty  years  ago,  a  wil- 
derness— we  now  point  out  to  it  as  a  garden.  In  that  time 
seventeen  millions  of  acres  of  forest  land  have  been  subdued  and 
brought  into  improvement.  One  million  five  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants  are  occupied  in  the  various  departments  of  civilized 
life ;  and  they  are  to-day  in  the  peaceful  possession  of  more 
than  six  hundred  millions  of  property. 

No  state  in  the  Union  presents  to  the  farmer  the  means  of 
health,  independence  and  abundance,  ;nore  amply  than  our 


14 

own ;  and  we  are  indeed  criminal,  if  we  do  not  avail  ourselves 
of  all  the  lights  of  science,  and  the  aids  of  other  lands,  in  prose- 
cuting our  onward  march. 

Many  of  my  hearers  have  heard  that  the  revival  of  agricul- 
ture commenced  in  Flanders,  about  seven  hundred  years  ago. 
There  the  soil  was  little  better  than  a  white  barren  sand,  now  its 
increase  is  said  to  be  twice  as  great  as  in  England.  The  grand 
maxim  on  which  the  Flemish  farmer  acts  is,  "  without  manure 
no  corn,  without  cattle  no  manure,  and  without  root  crops  no 
cattle  can  be  raised."  Their  success  may  be  resolved  into  the 
following  causes  :  small  farms,  careful  manure,  rotation  of  crops, 
clover  and  roots,  cutting  their  forage,  and  close,  undivided 
personal  attention.  The  farmer  does  not  lumber,  fish,  specu- 
late, nor  hold  office. 

I  have  had  much  opportunity  to  notice  the  conduct  of  our 
western  farmers;  and  I  am  entirely  impressed  with  the  belief 
that  most  of  them  would  be  better  off  if  they  were  to  be  de- 
prived of  half  their  lands.  Labour  and  anxiety  are  all  they  can 
obtain  from  the  extensive  cultivation  they  now  attempt.  But 
there  is  a  perfect  mania  for  adding  acre  to  acre. 

The  true  idea  of  a  farm,  is  its  closest  possible  resemblance  to 
a  well-conducted  garden.  The  Flemish  farmer  never  dreams 
of  exhausting  his  soil  in  one  place,  then  moving  off  to  wear  it 
out  in  another,  and  then  in  his  old  age  to  commence  a  new 
clearing  of  the  forest.  If  I  can  make  ten  acres  yield  me  as 
much  as  one  hundred,  by  affording  it  all  my  means  of  improve- 
ment, and  which  was  required  by  the  one  hundred,  the  conse- 
quence is,  that  I  have  profited  in  my  body  and  mind  in  an 
astonishing  degree.  I  have  saved  ten  times  the  ploughing  and 
harrowing,  ten  times  the  sowing  and  hoeing,  mowing  and  reap- 
ing, besides  ten  times  the  rent. 

I  fully  expect  to  see  the  second  crop  far  more  common  than 
it  is.  With  our  powerful  sun,  we  need  only  efficient  manuring, 
limited  extent  of  soil  under  cultivation,  and  an  increase  of  care, 
to  effect  this.  We  have  all  encouragement  to  persevere,  when 
we  reflect  upon  what  has  resulted  from  the  formation  of  Agri- 
cultural Associations.  We  can  tell  of  crops  augmented  in  our 
own  state  as  follows  : 


15 

Wheat,  from  18    bushels  per  acre,  to        30 

Corn,  "      40         "        "         "       "         70 

Barley,  "      25         "        "         «       "         40 

Peas,  "      25         "       "         «        "         45 

Oats,  "      40         "       "         "       "         74-79 

Potatoes,  "    200         "        "        "        "       475 

Carrots,  "    500         "        "        "        "     1000 

Sugar  Beet,  "  750  "  "  "  "  1500 
Mangel  Wurzel,"  600  "  "  "  "  1200 
Ruta  Baga,  "  500  "  "  "  «  1200 
Hay,  "  1^  tons  "  "  «'  3  tons. 

In  New-York  we  have  authenticated  reports  of  53  bushels  of 
wheat,  58  barley,  50  peas,  135  corn,  750  potatoes,  and  5  tons  of 
hay  to  the  acre. 

It  would  ill  become  me  to  adventure  instruction  to  men  who 
have  long  been  conversant  with  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  from 
their  habits  of  labour,  or  the  deep  personal  interest  which  they 
have  in  the  land  which  they  possess.  But  it  is  proper  that  I 
should  endeavour  to  call  up  a  more  general  attention  to  the 
pursuits  of  the  farmer.  Here,  in  our  cities  and  large  towns, 
there  are  errors  in  the  public  mind,  strong  prejudices,  un- 
concealed contempt,  and  above  all,  the  most  unfortunate 
ignorance. 

I  am  not  in  danger  of  contradiction  when  I  declare,  that  our 
community  has  regarded  money  as  the  chief  good,  and  its 
accumulation  has  been  practically  regarded  as  the  chief  end  of 
man.  All  the  occupation  and  the  energy  of  life  have  gone  out 
in  this  direction.  To  till  the  ground  has  been  thought  disrepu- 
table, I  imagine,  very  principally,  because  its  profits  have  been 
thought  to  be  slow  in  their  return  ;  there  have  been  no  wonder- 
ful fortunes  made  in  a  few  months — no  food  for  that  preternatural 
restlessness  which  cupidity  has  revelled  in.  What  a  frightful 
conspiracy  there  has  been  going  on  for  years  past  in  our  cities 
and  towns  against  the  unchangeable  law  and  ordinance  of  heaven, 
"in  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shall  thou  eat  bread  till  thou  be  turned 
again  into  the  ground."  Gen.  iii.  1 9.  All  classes  in  our  midst  have 
been  affected.  Lawyers,  doctors,  merchants  and  ministers 
have  turned  their  minds  to  the  best  way  of  getting  rich  without 


16 

labour;  and  such  was  the  ingenuity  of  this  city,  that  in  one  year 
we  made  property  grow  ninety-two  millions  ! 

But  in  accounting  for  this  popular  distaste,  let  me  be  more 
particular.  I  believe  that  parents  have  had  much  to  do  in  the 
creation  of  this  feeling.  The  men  and  women  who  enjoy  the 
honour  to  have  been  the  architects  of  their  own  fortunes,  seem 
in  many  cases  determined  to  place  their  children  at  the  very 
farthest  distance  from  the  line  of  occupation,  and  the  principles 
and  methods  of  life,  which  have  rendered  them  happy,  prosperous 
and  respectable.  No  matter  how  many  children  they  have,  the 
sons  are  to  do  with  as  little  labour  as  may  be,  and  the  daughters 
are  to  be  lilies,  they  are  neither  to  toil  or  spin.  How  many  a 
parent  would  feel  absolutely  insulted  if  you  supposed  that  he 
intended  to  put  his  boy  to  actual  labour  of  any  sort!  When  parents 
and  children  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  lad  must  obtain 
his  living  by  some  exertion  of  his  own.  they  put  their  minds  to 
the  rack,  to  discover  a  way  by  which  it  can  be  done  without 
labour.  The  father,  perhaps,  has  made  every  cent  he  possesses 
by  toH,  yet,  under  the  influence  of  the  day  in  which  we  live,  he 
cannot  endure  the  idea  that  his  son  should  be  seen  in  a  labouring 
dress,  engaged  in  a  mechanical  or  agricultural  employment. 
When  will  men  see  the  folly  of  the  opinion,  that  the  youth  who 
labours  on  a  farm  or  works  in  a  shop,  can  be  fit  for  nothing  else! 
A  young  man  upon  a  farm  may  qualify  himself  not  only  to 
pursue  his  calling,  but  to  take  a  part  in  all  the  public  concerns 
of  life. 

It  is  idle  to  talk  of  the  want  of  time  or  means  for  mental 
cultivation  upon  an  American  farm.  Judge  Buel  was  correct 
when  he  declared  that  a  man  might  devote  three  hours  out  of 
twenty-four  to  study,  without  infringing  upon  his  business, 
fatiguing  his  mind,  or  impairing  his  health,  allowing  eight  hours 
for  sleep,  ten  for  labour,  and  three  for  contingencies;  and  I  ask 
what  ordinary  occupation  affords  a  larger  portion  of  time  to 
the  acquisition  of  general  knowledge  ?  Let  no  man  on  a  farm 
complain  of  want  of  opportunity.  How  many  such  suffer 
money  to  be  squandered,  which  would  purchase  a  capital  library, 
and  fritter  away  time  in  taverns,  idle  talk,  and  lounging  on 


17 

winter  evenings,  and  useless  sleep  in  long  nights,  which,  if 
employed  in  reading  and  study,  would  make  them  able  agri- 
culturists, and  fit  them  for  the  halls  of  legislation  and  the  council 
tables  of  the  nation. 

I  believe,  too,  that  parents  err  in  placing  such  an  estimate  upon 
the  talents  of  their  sons,  as  leads  them  to  select  the  learned 
professions  as  the  only  sphere  in  which  they  can  have  a  proper 
scope  for  exhibition.  The  principals  of  our  academies  and  the 
presidents  of  our  colleges  will  testify,  that  at  the  opening  of 
every  term,  and  at  the  annual  commencements,  they  receive 
from  fond  parents  nothing  but  intellect  and  genius  of  "the  first 
order"  and  "greatest  promise."  Alas,  that  all  this  preeminence 
so  soon  finds  its  level. 

I  have  ever  regarded  the  best  carpenter  in  a  village  as  a 
more  distinguished  man  than  an  ordinary,  every  day,  common- 
place lawyer;  the  best  blacksmith,  the  ingenious,  contriving 
mechanic,  as  a  more  valuable  and  respectable  character  than 
the  half  educated,  conceited,  lounging  professional  man,  who 
has  forgotten  almost  all  he  learned  in  the  schools,  and  has  never 
made  advances  in  general  knowledge  since  he  commenced  the 
profession  which  his  apathy  and  dulness-  have  so  served  to 
disgrace.  The  president  of  one  of  our  colleges  remarks,  "  I 
have  long  thought  that  our  graduates  mistake  their  path  to 
honour  and  usefulness  in  making  choice  of  a  learned  profession, 
instead  of  converting  agriculture  into  one,  as  it  ought  to  be." 
Agriculture  not  a  science  !  Why.  there  is  hardly  a  science  that 
is  not  subservient  to  the  promotion  of  agriculture  ;  zoology, 
botany,  geology,  chemistry  in  a  most  essential  degree,  mecha- 
nical sciences,  all  are  connected  with  it.  But  the  great  practical 
problem  which  this  country  has  to  solve,  is,  to  give  the  speediest 
return  to  the  cultivator,  and  of  yielding  the  largest  amount  of 
produce  at  the  smallest  proportionate  expense  ;  and  though  the 
science  of  theory  and  expensive  experiments  may  not  be 
adapted  to  the  mass  of  our  agriculturists,  yet,  happily,  we  have 
a  noble  class  of  men  of  education,  property  and  public  spirit, 
capable  of  weighing  the  scientific  speculations  of  the  wise,  and 
with  means,  and  the  inclination  to  apply  those  means,  to  a 
practical  investigation  of  the  result  of  theories. 

3 


18 

It  is  one  of  the  happiest  signs  of  the  times,  that  many  young 
men  of  education  and  wealth  are  turning  their  attention  to 
husbandry;  they  are  making  a  wise  choice  for  their  own 
happiness  and  that  of  others.  Let  me  quote  from  Lord  Stanley, 
at  Liverpool,  in  relation  to  the  magnitude  and  vastness  of 
agriculture,  as  affording  room  for  investment.  Speaking  of 
draining,  "  I  am  aware,"  he  says,  "  that  the  process  of  draining 
is  an  expensive  one,  which  requires  an  outlay  of  capital  which, 
if  we  were  to  take  the  total  of  even  a  single  county  in  England, 
would  strike  every  man  as  something  marvellous  and  almost 
appalling;  and  yet  I  am  satisfied  of  this,  that  while  no  landlord 
could  expect  a  tenant  to  engage  in  operations  so  extensive 
without  his  concurrence  and  assistance,  and  without  his  bearing 
the  principal  burden  of  the  original  outlay,  I  am  firmly  persuaded 
of  this,  that  there  is  no  bank  in  the  whole  country,  no  com- 
mercial speculation,  no  investment,  so  safe,  so  sure,  so  profitable, 
as  that  in  which  even  borrowed  capital  may  be  engaged,  by 
investing  it  under  the  ground  of  your  own  soil." 

I  should  not  be  surprised  if  here,  as  in  England,  farming 
came  to  be  a  fashionable  pursuit ;  and  almost  every  man  here 
may  afford  to  be  in  the  fashion.  We  may  get  our  small  farms 
of  fifty,  eighty  and  one  hundred  acres,  and  almost  every  man 
may  enjoy  his  homestead  ;  nor  need  we  for  this  go  out  into  the 
wilderness.  We  can  find  good  land,  at  cheap  prices,  almost  at 
our  very  doors.  The  opening  of  that  portion  of  the  New- York 
and  Erie  Rail-Road  which  is  completed,  places  all  the  facilities 
of  a  farm  in  the  reach  of  every  man  who  covets  them.  I  wish 
I  could  persuade  you  all  to  go  and  look  at  the  country  through 
which  the  entire  route  of  that  road  is  laid.  You  would  then  be 
satisfied  that  there  are  the  same  happy  miracles  of  improvement 
to  be  accomplished  in  the  southern  tier  of  counties,  which  have 
blessed  and  civilized  our  state  on  the  line  of  the  Erie  Canal. 
How  strange  that  any  apathy  should  exist  among  us  in  reference 
to  this  vast  and  important  work,  which  brings  all  the  produce 
of  the  west  to  our  doors  at  all  seasons — gives  us  access  to 
New-Orleans  in  nine  days — offers  us  a  western  business  not 
only  in  spring  and  autumn,  but  during  the  whole  year.  I  am 
sure  that  in  ten  years  the  line  of  that  road  will  exhibit  an  appear- 


19 

ance  of  culture,  comfort  and;  opulence,  worthy  of  the  great 
highway  to  the  commercial  emporium  of  our  country. 

I  wish  I  could  see  in  all  our  farmers  a  disposition  to  magnify 
their  calling ;  but  I  have  been  grieved  in  many  a  farm-house,  to 
listen  to  lamentations  over  what  they  term  their  "  hard  lot."  I 
have  heard  the  residents  upon  a  noble  farm,  all  paid  for,  talk 
about  drudgery,  and  never  having  their  work  done,  and  few  or 
no  opportunities  for  the  children  ;  and  I  have  especially  been 
sorry  to  hear  the  females  lament  over  the  hard  fate  of  some 
promising  youth  of  seventeen  or  eighteen,  who  was  admirably 
filling  up  his  duties,  and  training  himself  for  extensive  useful- 
ness and  influence.  They  have  made  comparison  between  his 
situation,  coarsely  clad  and  working  hard,  and  coming  in  fa- 
tigued, with  some  cousin  at  college,  or  young  man  who  clerked 
it  in  a  city  store,  till  at  length  the  boy  has  become  dissatisfied, 
and  begged  off  from  his  true  interests  and  happiness.  I  am 
conversant  with  no  truer  scenes  of  enjoyment  than  I  have  wit- 
nessed in  American  farm-houses,  and  even  log  cabins,  where  the 
father,  under  the  influence  of  enlightened  Christianity  and  sound 
views  of  life,  has  gone  with  his  family,  as  the  world  have  termed 
it,  into  the  woods.  The  land  is  his  own,  and  he  has  every  in- 
ducement to  improve  it;  he  finds  a  healthy  employment  for 
himself  and  family,  and  is  never  at  a  loss  for  materials  to  occu- 
py his  mind.  I  do  not  think  the  physician  has  more  occasion 
for  research  than  the  farmer ;  the  proper  food  of  vegetables 
and  animals  will  alone  constitute  a  wide  and  lasting  field  of  in- 
vestigation. The  daily  journal  of  a  farmer  is  a  source  of  much 
interest  to  himself  and  others.  The  record  of  his  labours,  the 
expression  of  his  hopes,  the  nature  of  his  fears,  the  opinions  of 
his  neighbours,  the  results  of  his  experiments,  the  entire  sum  to- 
tal of  his  operations,  will  prove  a  deep  source  of  pleasure  to  any 
thinking  man.  If  the  establishment  of  agricultural  societies, 
and  the  cattle  shows  of  our  country,  should  have  the  effect  of 
stimulating  one  farmer  in  every  town  to  manage  his  land  and 
stock  upon  the  best  principles  of  husbandry,  there  would  be  a 
wonderful  and  speedy  alteration  in  the  products  of  the  earth, 
because  comparison  would  force  itself  upon  his  friends  and 
neighbours  ;  and  his  example  would  be  certainly  beneficial,  for 
prejudice  itself  will  give  way  to  profit. 


20 

I  know  an  individual  who,  at  a  great  expense  of  money  and 
travel,  carried,  hundreds  of  miles,  a  pair  of  fine  imported  Berk- 
shires  :  his  fellow  farmers  around  were  large  raisers  of  pork, 
and  their  swine  were,  without  exception,  of  the  genuine  land 
pike  and  alligator  breed,  all  leg  and  snout  ;  well,  they  crowded 
to  see  the  new  pigs,  admired  their  shape,  did  not  like  their  colour, 
did  not  think  they  were  "  so  great,  after  all,"  and  thought  that 
one  hundred  dollars  invested  in  two  pigs  was  "  quite  ridiculous." 
The  result,  however,  was,  that  the  farmers  were  soon  willing  to 
help  pay  for  the  original  outlay,  for  they  quickly  became  dis- 
satisfied with  their  own  rail-like  breed  ;  and  I  have  since  seen, 
at  the  piggery  of  a  flour  mill  two  miles  off,  more  than  fifty  half 
blooded  Berkshires,  and  all  through  the  township  they  are  get- 
ting a  better  article  for  pork  and  hams. 

The  prejudices  of  the  farmers  to  new  ways,  fresh  breeds,  and 
book  farming,  are  all  destined  to  give  way.  I  am  sure  that  a 
remark  which  that  great  man,  De  Witt  Clinton,  made  in  1825, 
in  relation  to  American  invention,  that  we  were  "  a  people  that 
had  no  stand  still  in  us,"  is  perfectly  applicable  to  us  as  agri- 
culturists. Our  farmers  have  eyes,  they  can  all  see,  and  they 
tvill  learn.  I  am  acquainted  with  a  vicinity  where  a  root  crop 
had  never  been  raised  as  a  principal  resource  for  cattle.  An 
experiment  in  183S,  has  now  twenty  rivals,  all  at  first  slow  to 
believe,  but  quick  to  follow  ;  and  all  their  working  cattle  this 
winter  will  have  cause  for  thanksgiving.  In  that  same  town  a 
man  has  converted  a  soil,  marred  by  the  salts  of  iron,  into  valu- 
able ground,  by  the  free  use  of  lime  ;  a  course  to  which  he  was 
advised  by  a  neighbour  who  took  the  Cultivator.  And  here  let 
me  say,  that  in  1840,  on  a  long  western  journey,  I  one  day  re- 
marked to  my  friend,  that  I  thought  I  could  give  a  pretty  shrewd 
guess,  from  observation  as  we  went  along,  as  to  the  fact  whether 
the  occupants  of  the  farms  took  any  agricultural  papers: 
in  thirteen  trials  I  made  but  one  wrong  guess.  It  is  important 
that  the  doings  of  this  society,  good  agricultural  reports,  books 
and  periodicals,  be  circulated  among  the  farmers;  because 
improvements  and  the  alterations  of  established  customs  and 
habits  are  very  slowly  admitted,  and  the  farmer  oftentimes,  from 
his  retired  position,  unless  he  is  addicted  to  reading,  is  likely  to 


21 

acquire  very  little  knowledge  of  his  art,  but  that  which  is  tra- 
ditional and  peculiar  to  his  vicinity.  We  should  do  much  for 
our  state,  if  we  could  put  forth  a  periodical  into  every  farm- 
house ;  one  that  would  keep  pace  with  the  times,  and  afford  the 
earliest  notice  of  every  important  invention  or  discovery  in  ru- 
ral life.  I  never  take  up  the  Ploughboy,  the  New-York  Farmer, 
and  especially  the  Cultivator,  without  an  earnest  wish  that  such 
admirable  pages  of  wisdom  and  experience,  and  plain,  round- 
about common  sense,  could  be  scattered  in  every  farm-house  in 
America,  and  its  volumes  placed  in  every  city  habitation.  I  do 
not  know  a  more  amusing  or  instructive  set  of  volumes  than 
Buel's  Cultivator.  I  almost  envy  that  good  great  man  his  claims 
upon  national  gratitude. 

I  wish  I  could  induce  the  father  of  every  family  to  give  this 
work  a  place  in  his  house  at  Christmas,  for  the  benefit  of  his 
children  ;  the  practical  information  which  they  would  gain  from 
it,  and  their  acquaintance  with  things  of  rural  life,  would  richly 
repay  the  expenditure,  and  this  knowledge  would  all  come  into 
useful  play.*  I  know  a  youth,  the  son  of  a  president  of  a  city 
bank,  a  boy  of  eighteen,  who  gravely  asked  how  long  it  took  to 
bring  a  crop  of  wheat  and  barley  to  perfection,  and  what  ani- 
mals were  called  neat  cattle  ;  and  yet  this  lad  was  deemed  well- 
educated  and  accomplished,  in  the  circle  in  which  he  moved. 

We  all  know  how  much  is  done  by  oral  instruction ;  how  often 
men  are  more  affected  by  what  they  hear  than  what  they  read ; 
and  this  has  induced  me  to  wish  that  suitable,  and,  of  course,  well- 
qualified  men,  could  go  through  every  portion  of  our  state,  and 
address  the  population  of  every  vicinity  on  the  great  subject  of 
the  improvements  in  husbandry,  and  urge  the  cultivators  of  the 
soil  to  a  generous  rivalry.  The  man  who  went  out  upon  this 

*  I  am  happy  to  state,  that  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen  has  commenced  another  periodical 
devoted  to  agriculture.  It  is  published  in  New-York,  and  is  called  "  The  American 
Farmers'  Magazine,"  a  monthly,  at  two  dollars  a  year.  No  writer  in  our 
country  brings  more  thorough  practical  skill  and  a  larger  share  of  science  to  the 
subject  than  Mr.  Allen.  His  magazine  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  a  standard  authority, 
New-York  city  ought  to  furnish  it  with  a  large  number  of  subscribers.  Our  mer- 
chants depend  so  much  upon  the  production  of  the  soil,  that  their  very  business  in- 
terests demand  that  they  should  be  acquainted  with  the  farming  interests  of  the  state 
and  country,  and  Mr.  Allen  will  give  such  statistics  as  are  adapted  to  their  use. 


22 

task  should  not  go  forth  as  the  profound  scholar,  or  the  refined 
gentleman,  but  as  a  plain,  honest-hearted  citizen,  who  had  an 
important  subject  to  talk  about,  and  valuable  information  to 
diffuse. 

I  believe  that  such  an  agency  would  be  productive  of  the 
happiest  results.  It  would  do  much  to  overcome  prejudice  ;  the 
individual  would  drop  the  seed  of  suggestion  upon  much  good 
ground;  he  would  acquire  immense  practical  information. 
There  are  a  hundred  things  which  a  wise  man  could  do  upon 
such  a  tour  that  we  can  hardly  hope  to  effect  by  our  publica- 
tions. Improvements  in  fencing,  especially  in  building,  could 
be  pointed  out  and  explained  ;  the  abatement  and  removal  of 
absolute  nuisances  could  be  judiciously  hinted  at  and  enforced 
in  good  natured  conversation,  and  the  cultivation  of  fruit  recom- 
mended. I  know  a  gentleman  who  prides  himself  on  having 
induced  several  farmers  to  get  up  woodpiles,  where  formerly 
daily  fuel  was  only  to  be  obtained  by  daily  prayer  and  coaxing 
and  scolding,  on  the  part  of  all  the  women,  to  all  the  men  in 
the  establishment. 

It  is  to  be  deplored,  that  in  many  parts  of  the  country  the 
farm-house  makes  so  little  pretension  to  external  beauty,  and 
that  it  is  destitute  of  those  attractions  which  are  always  at  the 
command  of  the  occupant. 

How  many  abodes  do  we  know  that  are  almost  without  gar- 
dens, and  quite  without  flowers.  It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
make  our  habitations  the  home  of  as  many  joys  and  pleasures 
as  possible,  and  there  ought  to  be  a  thousand  sweet  attractions 
in  and  around  the  sacred  spot  we  call  our  homes. 

This  feeling  is  perfectly  philosophical.  The  fragrance  of  the 
rose  that  is  plucked  at  the  door  of  the  cottage,  is  sweeter  in 
odour  to  the  poor  man,  who  has  assiduously  reared  it  there  amid 
difficulties  and  discouragements,  than  if  it  were  culled  from  the 
"  parterre"  of  the  palace  ;  and  the  root  which  he  has  dug  from 
his  own  little  garden  is  more  grateful  to  his  palate  than  if  it  were 
the  purchased  product  of  unknown  hands  ;  and  this  argument, 
if  it  be  true  when  applied  to  individuals,  is  equally  valid  on  the 
broad  principle  of  nations. 

O,  we  greatly  need  something  more  of  the  sweet  and  beau- 


23 

tiful  about  our  houses  and  cottages,  that  shall  make  childhood, 
youth  and  age  all  cry  out,  "  there  is  no  place  like  home."  In 
your  summer  rambles  away  from  the  hot  city,  you  go  to  the 
farm-houses  of  this  and  other  states  ;  now  just  think  how  differ- 
ently your  memory  calls  up  various  houses  at  which  you  have 
sojourned.  You  can  think  of  spots  like  paradise,  and  there  are 
others  that  you  recollect,  and  there  are  only  the  capabilities  for 
improvement  and  fine  opportunities  for  the  hand  of  industry  and 
good  taste.  How  well  we  recall  to  mind  the  pretty  white  cot- 
tage, the  deep  green  blinds,  the  painted  trellis,  the  climbing  shrub, 
the  neat  garden  fence,  the  sweetly  scented  flowers,  the  entire  air 
of  comfort,  and  how  we  long  again  to  enjoy  the  bliss  of  quietness 
and  repose. 

I  believe  a  garden  spot  exerts  a  salutary  influence,  not  only 
in  early  life,  but  in  the  advanced  periods  of  human  existence. 
"  O,  how  much  sweeter  is  it  to  me,"  said  Madame  De  Genlis,  "  to 
recall  to  my  mind  the  walks  and  sports  of  my  childhood,  than 
the  pomp  and  splendour  of  the  palaces  I  have  since  inhabited. 
All  these  courts,  once  so  splendid  and  brilliant,  are  now  faded ; 
the  projects  which  were  then  built  with  so  much  confidence  are 
become  chimeras.  The  impenetrable  future  has  cheated  alike 
the  security  of  princes  and  the  ambition  of  courtiers.  Ver- 
sailles is  drooping  into  ruins.  I  should  look  in  vain  for  the  ves- 
tages  of  the  feeble  grandeur  I  once  admired  ;  but  I  should  find 
the  banks  of  the  Loire  as  smiling  as  ever,  the  meadows  of  St. 
Aubyn  as  full  of  violets  and  lilies  of  the  valley,  and  its  trees 
loftier  and  fairer.  There  are  no  vicissitudes  for  the  eternal 
beauties  of  nature ;  and  while,  amid  blood-stained  revolutions, 
palaces,  columns,  statues  disappear,  the  simple  flowers  of  nature, 
regardless  of  the  storm,  grow  into  beauty,  and  multiply  for  ever." 

Hannah  More  felicitated  herself  through  life  on  her  attach- 
ment to  the  garden,  and  declared  to  an  American  friend,  that  in 
her  eighty-third  year  the  love  of  flowers  was  the  only  natural 
passion  left  to  her  which  had  lost  none  of  its  force. 

I  am  unhappy  when  I  see  a  farm  without  a  garden,  and  al- 
most so  in  a  house  without  flowers.  I  believe  all  who  possess 
sensibility  are  fond  of  plants,  and  I  also  believe  that  at  some 
period  or  other  of  life  the  predilection  will  break  out.  I  think 


24 

nature  indicates  the  garden  as  man's  proper  place ;  for  the  infant 
can  hardly  walk  before  he  is  found  planting  a  flower.  Every 
boy  loves  a  garden — a  garden  of  his  own  ;  every  sailor  talks 
about  his  garden,  and  some  old  sailors  can  show  us  rare  ones. 
Napoleon  and  Siddons,  Washington  and  Jefferson,  in  their  re- 
tirement from  life's  busy  scenes,  are  found  in  the  garden. 

As  far  as  I  have  noticed,  the  greatest  admirers  and  most  pas- 
sionate cultivators  of  flowers  are  females  and  manufacturers. 
I  was  much  pleased,  at  the  exhibition  in  New-Haven  last  week, 
to  observe  that  the  choicest  fruits  and  flowers  came  from  the 
care  of  the  ladies  ;  and  the  manufacturing  classes  in  England  and 
Scotland,  especially  in  Staffordshire  and  Lancashire,  and  vicinity 
of  Paisley,  are  enthusiastic  florists,  and  derive  much  enjoyment 
from  their  gardening  societies ;  they  regard  gardening  as  a  relax- 
ation. It  is  not  undeserving  of  a  notice  on  this  occasion,  that  a 
mechanic*  who  labours  daily  in  our  city,  has  agarden  in  Williams, 
burgh,  where  he  can  show  a  finer  collection  of  flowers  than  is 
possessed  by  most  rich  men,  and  his  dahlias  are  now  adorning  our 
agricultural  room  at  the  Garden. 

"  Flowers,  of  all  created  things,  are  the  most  innocently  sim- 
ple, and  most  superbly  complex — playthings  for  childhood, 
ornaments  of  the  grave,  and  companions  of  the  cold  corpse ! 
"  Flowers,  beloved  by  the  wandering  idiot,  and  studied  by  the 
deep  thinking  man  of  science  !  Flowers,  that  unceasingly  ex- 
pand to  heaven  their  grateful,  and  to  man  their  cheerful  looks 
— partners  of  human  joy,  soothers  of  human  sorrow  ;  fit  em- 
blems of  the  victor's  triumph,  of  the  young  bride's  blushes  ;  wel- 
come to  the  crowded  halls,  and  graceful  upon  solitary  graves  ! 
Flowers  are,  in  the  volume  of  nature,  what  the  expression  '  God 
is  love '  is  in  revelation.  What  a  desolate  place  would  be  a 
world  without  a  flower  !  It  would  be  a  face  without  a  smile, 
a  feast  without  a  welcome.  Are  not  flowers  the  stars  of  the 
earth  ?  And  are  not  stars  the  flowers  of  heaven  ?  One  cannot 
look  closely  at  the  structure  of  a  flower  without  loving  it. 
They  are  the  emblems  and  manifestations  of  God's  love  to  the 
creation  ;  and  they  are  the  means  and  the  ministration  of  man's 

*  Mr.  Tucker. 


25 

love  to  his  fellow  creatures,  for  they  first  awaken  in  his  mind  a 
sense  of  the  beautiful  and  good.  The  very  inutility  of  flowers 
is  their  excellence  and  great  beauty,  for  they  lead  us  to  thoughts 
of  generosity  and  moral  beauty,  detached  from  and  superior  to 
selfishness  :  so  that  they  are  pretty  lessons  in  nature's  book  of 
instruction,  teaching  man  that  he  liveth  not  by  bread  alone,  but 
that  he  hath  another  than  animal  life." 

1  think  it  will  appear  to  all  who  have  visited  our  best  herds 
and  seen  the  state  of  the  English  cattle  shows,  that  the  time 
has  arrived  when  we  should  breed  for  ourselves  ;  and,  with  our 
climate  in  New-York,  Ohio,  Michigan  and  Kentucky,  so  favour- 
able for  our  purpose,  and  perhaps  even  for  exportation,  I 
know  men  who  think  we  may  not  have  to  wait  one  hundred 
years  to  repay  favours  to  our  friends  in  England.  Only  let  us 
keep  our  high  blood  pure,  and  bring  up  judicious  selections  to 
the  best  pure  blood  bulls,  and  breed  steadily  toward  the  Durham, 
and  I  expect  we  shall  have  cattle  that  will  reflect  as  much 
credit  upon  their  breeders  as  the  milk  pots  of  Col.  Jaques,  or 
the  short  horns  or  alloys  of  Collings.  One  thing  I  am  quite 
satisfied  of,  and  that  is,  that  we  have  no  further  need  of  extensive 
importation  in  short  horns.  I  think  their  value  cannot  well  be 
overrated  for  milking  qualities  or  for  beef.  If  any  are  sceptical 
on  the  latter  point,  I  beg  their  particular  attention  to  a  pair  of 
steers  which  Mr.  Townsend  will  exhibit  next  week  for  compe- 
tition, and  which  weigh  2,615  Ibs.  each.* 

In  relation  to  the  cattle,  I  have  hardly  time  to  say  much  ;  nor 
perhaps  is  this  the  best  place,  though  something  may  be  ex- 
pected. It  is  well  known,  that  for  a  few  years  past  much 
attention  has  been  directed  to  this  subject,  and  very  heavy 
investments  have  been  made  in  the  improved  breeds.  The 
best  herds  of  England  have  been  inspected  ;  and  we  have  now 
in  New-York,  New- Jersey,  Ohio,  Michigan  and  Kentucky,  some 
of  the  choicest  animals  that  have  been  reared.  Great  praise 
is  due  to  such  men  as  Van  Rensselaer,  Prentiss.  Corning,  Rotch, 


*  These  noble  animals  afterwards  received  the  silver  cup  at  the  Fair.  They 
are  returned  to  New-Haven,  and  will  probably  have  an  addition  of  500  Ibs.  to  theiv 
individual  weight  when  they  are  brought  to  the  market. 

4 


26 

Lossing,  Bement,  Pope,  Giddings,  Whitney,  Townsend,  Poolef 
Renwick  and  Clay,  who,  at  great  expense,  have  brought  among 
us  the  best  blood  of  England. 

I  trust  that  our  farmers  will  avoid  the  grievous  error  of  pre- 
ferring a  breed  whose  services  may  be  obtained  cheaply, 
rather  than  selecting  an  animal  of  the  highest  merit.  This, 
indeed,  is  to  be  "  penny  wise  and  pound  foolish." 

I  yesterday  had  the  pleasure  to  accompany  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen, 
of  Buffalo,  who  has  just  returned  from  an  agricultural  tour  in 
England,  on  board  the  packet  ship  Hendrick  Hudson,  from 
London,  for  the  purpose  of  inspecting  the  superior  stock  selected 
by  him  for  himself  and  his  friends.  Several  large  previous 
importations  had  arrived  by  the  packet  ships  Mediator  and 
Wellington.  This  consists  of  South  Down  sheep,  the  great 
York  and  Kenilworth  breeds  of  pigs,  shepherd  dogs,  the  large 
Dorking  fowls,  which  are  distinguished,  like  Goliah,  by  having 
an  additional  toe,  English  pheasants,  &c.  Of  cattle,  Mr.  Allen 
has  made  no  importation,  principally  on  account  of  the  disease 
which  is  at  present  pervading  all  England,  and  he  was  fearful 
of  importing  that  with  them,  to  the  injury  of  our  present  stock. 
He  however  concurs  with  me  in  the  opinion,  that  New- York, 
Ohio  and  Kentucky,  with  the  exception  of  one  herd,  may  even 
now  challenge  all  England  in  the  breed  of  short  horns;  and  this 
is  his  judgment,  after  having  attended  the  Royal  Agricultural 
Society's  Exhibition  at  Liverpool,  and  the  still  finer  one  of 
Durhams,  long-wooled  sheep  and  horses,  at  Hull,  Yorkshire, 
and  examining  the  celebrated  herds  of  Earl  Spencer,  Mr.  Bates, 
and  other  eminent  breeders.  Mr.  Allen  thinks  very  favourably 
of  Herefords,  but  more  so  of  some  very  large  and  improved 
South  Devons.  The  celebrated  Ayrshires  he  greatly  admires ; 
but  for  the  most  delicate  knife,  and  for  a  source  of  real  profit 
to  the  grazier,  he  thinks  highly  of  the  Scotch  Highlanders,  as 
now  raised  by  a  few  choice  breeders.  These  animals  are  but 
of  medium  size;  they  are  occasionally  of  dun  colour,  more 
commonly  black,  without  horns,  and  very  hardy  and  thrifty. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  would  suit  the  climate  of 
New-England. 

If  any  of  you,  gentlemen,  wish  to  investigate  the  history  of 


27 

the  improved  breed  of  Durhams,  I  would  advise  you  to  consult 
"  Cully  on  Live  Stock,"  a  work,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  quite 
as  much  to  be  depended  upon,  as  the  more  recent  treatise  by 
the  Rev.  Henry  Berry.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  say,  that  we 
can  trace  back  the  short  horns  for  nearly  two  hundred  years. 
Sir  H.  Smythson  then  used  to  weigh  out  food  to  his  cattle,  and 
his  notes  upon  his  herd,  as  to  the  eye,  horns,  hoof,  hide,  all 
indicate  the  identity  of  this  breed.  It  is  an  interesting  fact, 
and  probably  known  to  very  few,  that  while  Lord  Percy  was 
engaged  in  this  country  during  the  Revolution,  his  steward  sent 
the  celebrated  herd,  one  by  one,  to  the  shambles.  At  the  return 
of  Lord  Percy,  he  found  the  butcher  carrying  off  the  very  last 
cow,  which  he  rescued  from  the  knife,  and  thus  preserved  the 
breed. 

Mr.  Allen  thinks  that  in  horses  we  are  far  superior  to  Eng- 
land. There  is  nothing  there  equal  to  our  American  trotters. 
Their  cart  horses  carry  more  flesh,  but  have  not  the  muscle  of 
our  heavy  Pennsylvania  horses  ;  nor  are  they  as  enduring  in 
their  work,  or  as  strong  at  a  pull,  and  are  much  coarser  in  their 
conformation,  with  long  hair  below  the  knee,  and  heavy  fet- 
locks, that  gather  mud,  give  them  disease,  and  hinder  quick 
movement.  Even  our  racers,  he  thinks,  would  beat  England  as 
weight  carriers,  at  three  or  four  mile  heats,  but  does  not  know, 
owing  to  their  very  fine  training,  and  the  soft  springing  turf  on 
the  course,  but  the  English  horse  might  be  quicker  a  few 
seconds  for  a  single  heat ;  but,  generally,  that  ours  have  the  most 
bottom  or  endurance,  he  has  not  a  doubt.  He  thinks  our  cli- 
mate greatly  superior  to  that  of  England  for  breeding  these  no- 
ble animals  ;  and  if  we  only  pay  close  attention  to  this  depart- 
ment of  husbandry,  we  may  become  large  exporters,  especially 
of  roadsters.  Our  horses  are  already  much  talked  about  and 
inquired  after  abroad ;  and  Mr.  Allen  tells  me  he  rode  after 
some  quite  ordinary  American  horses  that  had  been  taken  to 
England,  which  were  highly  prized,  beating  every  thing  upon 
the  road  with  perfect  ease. 

The  South  Downs  which  I  saw  yesterday,  I  hardly  know  how 
to  speak  of;  they  must  be  seen  to  be  understood.  You  have 
often  heard  travellers'  stories  about  English  mutton ;  well,  let 


28 

the  incredulous  go  and  look  at  these  importations.  Three  of 
them  are  brought  out  by  Mr.  Allen  for  the  Hon.  Mr.  Stevenson, 
late  Minister  at  St.  James ;  three  for  Bishop  Meade,  of  Vir- 
ginia ;  five  for  Mr.  Rotch,  of  Butternuts,  Otsego  county,  N.  Y. 
Mr.  Stevenson  has  been  abroad  six  years,  and  after  visiting  all 
the  flocks  of  note,  prefers  the  South  Downs  to  all  others  ;  and 
Dr.  Meade  and  Mr.  Allen  concur  fully  in  this  opinion.  I  have 
heard  it  doubted  whether  the  South  Downs  are  adapted  to  our 
hard  northern  climate  ;  to  this  I  would  say,  that  they  have  been 
found  to  endure  a  Scotch  winter  even  better  than  the  Cheviots, 
at  an  elevation  of  two  thousand  feet  above  the  sea. 

These  sheep  were  selected  from  the  celebrated  stock  of  Jonas 
Webb,  Esq.,  of  Babraham,  Cambridge,  who  carried  off  all  the 
prizes  this  year  at  the  show  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society. 
These  animals  are  of  great  size  for  Downs,  of  the  most  finished 
form,  of  a  fleece  about  equal,  I  think,  to  three  quarters  blood 
Merino,  and  as  thick  and  close  as  felt.  The  bucks  will  shear 
from  ten  to  eleven  and  a  half  pounds  per  annum,  and  are  of  great 
weight ;  those  of  Bishop  Meade  and  Mr.  Stevenson  are  of  two 
hundred  and  forty-eight  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  pounds, 
though  only  eighteen  months  old,  while  that  of  Mr.  Rotch,  a 
iamb  of  six  months,  is  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  pounds.  Mr. 
Webb  killed  a  wether  last  Christmas  which  weighed,  dressed, 
with  the  head  on,  two  hundred.  The  sire  of  Mr.  Rotch's  buck, 
as  the  best  yearling  in  all  England,  took  the  prize  of  thirty 
sovereigns  from  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  at  Liverpool, 
and  is  now  merely  let  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  for  the  present 
season  at  one  hundred  sovereigns !  The  shepherd's  dog  I  think 
remarkably  beautiful ;  he  is  of  a  medium  size,  of  shining  black 
colour,  with  long  and  glossy  hair.  The  breed  is  so  good  and 
true,  that  they  break  themselves  in,  to  guard  and  drive  sheep  on 
the  extensive  ranges  of  hill  and  down,  without  any  training. 
He  is  almost  as  active  as  the  greyhound,  and  very  docile  and  in- 
telligent. The  introduction  of  dogs  into  agricultural  use  would 
be  of  great  service,  and  especially  in  driving  flocks  to  city  mar- 
kets. The  Dorking  fowls  are  of  immense  size,  often  weighing 
eight  pounds  dressed,  and  all  sportsmen  know  the  beauty  of  the 
English  cock  pheasant.  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  my 


29 

friend,  Mr.  Allen,  will  soon  favour  the  public  with  an  article 
upon  the  history  and  pedigree  of  South  Downs,  with  a  series 
of  engravings. 

In  relation  to  pigs,  it  is  well  known  that  Mr.  Allen  has  long 
been  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  successful  breeders ;  his 
learned  article,  which  appeared  in  Albany,  has  been  reprinted 
in  London,  and  excites  much  attention.  To  examine  the  breeds 
of  England  was  one  great  object  of  his  tour,  and  in  the  inves- 
tigation of  this  matter  he  travelled  many  hundreds  of  miles. 

He  still  pronounces  the  Berkshire  the  best,  combining  the 
finest  qualities,  and,  he  thinks,  yielding  a  sufficient  size.  He 
saw  the  best  Chinese,  the  wild  boar,  the  German  boar,  and  all 
the  crosses  which  have  been  procured. 

Our  good  friends  in  Kentucky,  who  "  go  the  whole  hog,"  re- 
gard the  Berkshires  as  only  approximations  to  bacon  excellence, 
and  have  always  been  asking  northern  breeders  to  furnish  them 
length,  length.  Well,  I  think  Mr.  Allen  will  satisfy  them  now, 
he  has  a  breed  which  he  can  easily  fat  to  weigh  fourteen  hun- 
dred ;  he  saw  one  exhibited  in  England,  and,  strange  as  it  may 
sound,  under  the  patronage  of  Queen  Victoria,  which  he  mea- 
sured. From  the  tip  of  nose,  over  his  head,  to  the  tail,  nine 
feet  nine  inches ;  from  the  tip  of  nose,  along  the  side,  to  the 
end  of  the  rump,  seven  feet  nine  inches  ;  in  height  four  feet,  girt 
round  the  breast  seven  feet  seven  inches.  This  is  the  stock 
from  which  Mr.  Allen  has  shown  me  specimens. 

The  details  of  the  Agricultural  Society  at  Liverpool  afford 
the  most  interesting  proof  of  the  fresh  impetus  which  the  cause 
of  improved  husbandry  has  received.  The  best  men  in  Eng- 
land, in  all  walks  of  life,  are  becoming  interested.  Noblemen 
may  be  seen  in  their  gaiters  and  nailed  shoes,  cuffs  turned  up, 
examining  cattle  and  guiding  ploughs.  Young  noblemen,  leav- 
ing their  habits  of  dissipation,  are  joining  the  masses  of  the 
people,  doing  what  they  can  to  advance  the  true  interests  of  the 
land. 

It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  Mr.  Allen  has  received  the  kind- 
est attention  from  the  gentlemen  who  are  engaged  in  agricul- 
ture, and  has  been  treated  with  the  greatest  confidence ;  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  results  of  his  tour  may  be  speedily  laid 
before  the  public. 


30 

I  close  by  indulging  myself  and  gratifying  my  audience  by 
quoting  a  passage  from  a  work  which  I  strongly  commend  you 
to  purchase.  Read  it,  read  it  again  ;  it  will  do  the  young  man 
more  good  than  he  will  get  from  any  half  dozen  novels  that  have 
been  published  this  year;  it  is  Howitts  Rural  Life  in  England; 
I  have  placed  it,  by  recommendation,  in  the  hands  of  several 
friends,  and  they  have  all  been  delighted  with  the  work. 

'.'  There  is  no  class  of  men,  if  times  are  but  tolerably  good, 
that  enjoy  themselves  so  highly  as  farmers  ;  they  are  little  kings. 
Their  concerns  are  not  huddled  up  into  a  corner,  as  those  of  the 
town  tradesman  are.  In  town,  many  a  man  who  turns  thou- 
sands per  week  is  hemmed  in  close  by  buildings,  and  cuts  no 
figure  at  all.  A  narrow  shop,  a  contracted  warehouse,  without 
an  inch  of  room  to  turn  him  on  any  hand,  without  a  yard,  a 
stable,  or  outhouse  of  any  description,  perhaps  hoisted  aloft, 
up  three  or  four  pairs  of  dirty  stairs,  is  all  the  room  that  the 
wealthy  tradesman  can  often  bless  himself  with,  and  there  day 
after  day,  month  after  month,  year  after  year,  he  is  to  be  found, 
like  a  bat  in  the  hole  of  a  wall,  or  a  toad  in  the  heart  of  a  stone 
or  of  an  oak  tree.  Spring,  and  summer,  and  autumn  go  round; 
sunshine  and  flowers  spread  over  the  world  ;  the  sweetest 
breezes  blow,  the  sweetest  waters  murmur  along  the  vales,  but 
they  are  all  lost  upon  him ;  he  is  the  doleful  prisoner  of  Mammon, 
and  so  he  lives  and  dies.  The  farmer  would  not  take  the  wealth 
of  the  world  on  such  terms.  His  concerns,  however  small, 
spread  themselves  out  in  a  pleasant  amplitude  both  to  his  eye 
and  heart.  His  house  stands  in  its  own  spacious  solitude  ;  his 
offices  and  out-houses  stand  round  extensively,  without  any  stub- 
born and  limiting  contraction  r  his  acres  stretch  over  hill  and 
dale  ;  there  his  flocks  and  herds  are  feeding  ;  there  his  labourers 
are  toiling — he  is  king  and  sole  commander  there.  He  lives 
among  the  purest  air  and  the  most  delicious  quiet.  Often,  when 
I  see  those  healthy,  hardy,  full-grown  sons  of  the  soil  going  out 
of  town,  I  envy  them  the  freshness  and  the  repose  of  the  spots 
to  which  they  are  going.  Ample  old  fashioned  kitchens,  with 
their  chimney  corners  of  the  true,  projecting,  beamed  and 
seated  construction,  still  remaining  ;  blazing  fires  in  winter, 
shining  on  suspended  hams  and  flitches,  guns  supported  on 


31 

hooks  above,  dogs  basking  on  the  hearth  below  ;  cool  shady 
parlours  in  summer,  with  open  windows,  and  odours  from 
garden  and  shrubbery  blowing  in ;  gardens  wet  with  purest 
dews,  and  humming  at  noontide  with  bees  ;  and  green  fields  and 
verdurous  trees,  or  deep  woodlands  lying  all  around,  where  a 
hundred  rejoicing  voices  of  birds  or  other  creatures  are  heard, 
and  winds  blow  to  and  fro,  full  of  health,  and  life-enjoyment. 
How  enviable  do  such  places  seem  to  the  fretted  spirits  of  towns, 
who  are  compelled  not  only  to  bear  their  burden  of  cares,  but 
to  enter  daily  into  the  public  strife  against  selfish  evil  and  ever 
spreading  corruption.  When  one  calls  to  mind  the  simple 
abundance  of  farm-houses,  their  rich  cream  and  milk,  and  un- 
adulterated butter,  and  bread  grown  upon  their  own  lands, 
sweet  as  that  which  Christ  broke,  and  blessed  as  he  gave  to  his 
disciples ;  their  fruits,  ripe  and  fresh  plucked  from  the  sunny 
wall,  or  the  garden  bed,  or  the  pleasant  old  orchard  ;  when  one 
casts  an  eye  upon,  or  calls  to  one's  memory  the  aspect  of  those 
houses,  many  of  them  so  antiquely  picturesque,  or  so  bright 
looking  and  comfortable,  in  deep  retired  valleys,  by  beautiful 
streams  or  among  fragrant  woodlands,  one  cannot  help  saying 
with  King  James  of  Scotland,  when  he  met  Johnny  Armstrong, 

'•  What  want  these  knaves  that  a  king  should  have  1" 


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